Tuesday, 24 July 2012

Guideline switch line

Got a Guideline switch line from Clonanav yesterday. Its a #9 with a 25gram head which suits my Echo #7 which takes a 25-29gram head. It is mainly for the local rivers in my area which are small and where a shooting head can spend alot of its time inside the rod rings. On giving it a test trial I found the line very very responsive to overhead casting, infact probably the easiest line I have ever cast overhead. The line is very smooth and subtle and the integrated running line is nice and thin. It took a bit more getting used to with spey casts and I found the Snap T the hardest to get on with. Im going to try it with a 6ft intermediate polyleader and see if it makes it any easier. I did get used to the line after a bit of flirting with it but havent realised its full potential yet. In terms of comparison to a shooting head the distance achieved is only slightly less but it is noticeable. The length of the line is not long at all infact with a spey cast I nearly put out the whole 24m. I found the wallet and tips of good quality although the sink tips have no way of identification on them. The loop to loop connections are very nice and smaller than other guideline fly lines. I have to give the setup a proper trial on medium and small rivers but initial prospects look promising.